Trixter and BulletBoys New Releases

Trixter and Bulletboys both came out in the tail end of the 80's hard rock scene, right before Nirvana blew it all up. They both had minor hits, Trixter with "Give It To Me Good" and BulletBoys with "Smooth Up In Ya".

Then, like any band that rose to prominence on the hard rock scene during the mid-to-late 80's/early 90's not named Bon Jovi or Motley Crue or Guns 'n Roses, were quickly forgotten.

Both bands had new records come out recently. And for the most part, nobody's going to hear them. Certainly not on radio.

Is either record a musical masterpiece that will go down in the annals of history as a great record? Nope. But if you're a fan of that era of music, it's better than a lot of stuff that came out at the end. The songs are good. The playing is excellent (guitar solos anyone?). The vocals hold up.

With so many artists of that era hanging it up, fighting amongst themselves or just giving up on releasing new music, this is worth checking out.

Here is Trixter with "Rockin' To The Edge of the Night" from their new record Human Era:




And "Rollover" from Bulletboys new record Elefante':

Album Spotlight: Chris Hennessee: Greetings From Hennessee

If you like any combination of country, Southern Rock, blues,Texas country, gospel, Stevie Ray Vaughan, the Allmans, Alabama, Jerry Reed, the Eagles, Marshall Tucker, the Bellamy Brothers, etc., you might just find something you like in Chris Hennessee's latest record Greetings From Hennessee.

Classify it how you want. As regular readers of my blog know, I've given up. Just say it's good music.

Here is "Long Way Gone" from the new record.

Album Spotlight: Koritni: Night Goes On For Days

Koritni's latest record Night Goes On For Days could have come straight out of the 80's. And that's a good thing. This Australian band with a French guitarist sounds like they grew up on the Sunset Strip, or Indiana or Mississippi. Confused yet?

Koritni could have easily come out of the mid to late 80's LA sleaze rock scene. Or feel right at home with the Mississippi Delta blues inspired Southern Rock of the 70's. Even touches of American heartland sentiment a la John Mellencamp.

Whatever, they make it all work in a sound that I find refreshing. Mostly it's just good, fun, 80's style hard rock. If you're a fan of that era, these guys do it right.

And they self-aware of what they are doing. Enough to make fun of themselves as is evident in this track, "Rock'nRoll Ain't No Crime":

Album Spotlight: honeyhoney: 3

Although the album title lacks originality, honeyhoney's third album, 3, does not.

I'm so lost on what genres are right now, I won't even try. Or maybe honeyhoney could be labeled as post/neo/traditional/alt/country/indie/rock/punk/Americana/pop. That about covers it. If Houndmouth, Delta Rae or Ryan Adams appeal to you, this is right up your alley.

Produced by Dave Cobb*, this is just a good record. It traverses through land staked by country and Americana, indie rock and punk, traditional and current. 3 is a record for people who love music for the sake of good music, not anyone chasing trends.

*For some reason Dave Cobb seems to have his hand in all the best music being put out right now. The dude apparently knows what he's doing.

Here is "You and I" from the record. Enjoy.

Album Spotlight: A Thousand Horses: Southernality

I was a little leery of A Thousand Horses after hearing the two lead singles from their Southernality record. Whoever is choosing the singles for them is making a huge mistake, as "Smoke" and "(This Ain't No) Drunk Dial" may be the two worst songs on the album.

The entirety of Southernality is a lot closer to the Blackberry Smoke and Whiskey Myers brand of current Southern Rock than the bro-tinged pap of the lead singles.

The record starts out with the seriously Black Crowes influenced "First Time". Maybe a little too Black Crowes influenced, "Jealous Again" anyone? I can forgive them for that one because it's a good song and the rest of the album is not derivative.

Coming in with 13 songs, Southernality is about three songs too long. It's marketed as country, but nowadays what isn't? It's not country, it's Southern Rock. But where do you market that now?

Where A Thousand Horses goes from here will be interesting. The best thing that could happen would be for the ill chosen singles to flop so they will concentrate on the music they are good at.

Here's a live acoustic version of "Sunday Morning":

June 9, 2015 Was A Good Day For Music

New music drops in the United States mostly on Tuesdays (for the time being) and Tuesday, June 9, 2015 was good day for people who like good music.

I write this only because I haven't had time time to fully digest everything. There were new albums by honeyhoney, Bulletboys, Courtney Patton, Chris Hennessee, A Thousand Horses, Sam Outlaw, Mark Tremonti and Uncle Lucius. Just to name the one's I know.

There will be more in depth album spotlight posts for most of those, unless next week brings a new wave of incredible music. Then I'll just be incredibly behind.

Stay tuned. More to come.

In the meantime, enjoy some pirate metal courtesy of Alestorm, because why not?: